About James Pratt

I like to think of myself as a storyteller. I use a variety of tools to tell those stories – in writing, with pictures and with video and audio. I love traveling, meeting unusual people, learning about their stories, and then telling their story with the skills I have learned over the past 20 or so years. I have published stories ranging from a 7 year old with cancer who just wanted to ride motorcycles with his dad, to in-depth stories about why canola farming has expanded into a major cash crop for farmers. As you look at my web site you will see dozens of stories I have told over the years. Some I do myself, others I work in collaboration with writers and other creative people. I am by nature somewhat of an introvert, but my camera, notebook, and cell phone give me the tools necessary to get out and meet people, ask questions, seek insight, and tell their stories.

My favorite work is as an editorial photographer in Oklahoma and surrounding states. I like to work with magazines and newspapers to capture unique environmental portraits of real people in their natural surroundings.

As a commercial photographer in central Oklahoma, I enjoy helping companies with their branding through photography. Unique, authentic photos are important to many industrial and commercial clients and I enjoy collaborating with clients to develop imagery that promotes their brand.

Kay and I attended a wedding in fall 2017. I had to buy a new suit since I lost over 45 pounds in the past year.These images are about 4 years apart 2013 to 2017. I started working out in 2016 and really kicked it into high gear in April 2017 and lost over 45 pounds in about a year.This was my second motorcycle – a Honda CB-750 Supersport. This is when I transitioned from a chopper style to sport style of riding and loved it much better than feet forward riding.I got into street bikes in 1978 and dirt bikes in around 1980 or so. I only had this Yamaha YZ-250 for a year or so before it got stolen.My son Adam Pratt and I with my Yamaha YZ-250 motorcycle. He was riding a Yamaha PW-50 at the time. He upgraded to a KX-60 right before it was stolen at the same time as my YZ. Neon was the “in” thing in motocross at the time.Adam and I standing in front of my Cessna Turbo 210 airplane, N42GD. This was a great airplane except it kept blowing turbochargers.During high school and after Kay and I were married, I worked for my father in his swimming pool construction business. Emily was born in 1985, right before I started into computers. Here she is helping me drive my Dad’s Bobcat skid steer loader.My daughter Emily Pratt (Mathews) helping me shave cira 1986.My wife Kay Pratt and I both learned to scuba dive when we first were married. Here we are at Lake Tenkiller in eastern Oklahoma.Kay took this photo of me in the back of a canoe while she and I floated down the Illinois River. This was probably around 1979 time frame.When we were 18 years old Kay invited me to join her on a trip to South Padre Island in Texas. I sold my first motorcycle, a Yamaha XS-750 Special, to fund the trip. Best move I ever made. Hated that motorcycle and loved her!While Kay and I were in South Padre Island, I thought I would learn to surf. Little did I know the guy at the beach rented me a waterlogged surfboard. It would not even hold me up laying flat, much less standing on it. I was too naive to realize I had been ripped off.I certainly looked the part of a surfer. Big fail with a waterlogged surfboard.My future brother-in-law took a trip our senior year in high school to Dogpatch USA in Arkansas. This is my picture circa 1978 with Miss Dogpatch strategically clipped out of the picture.Not sure when or where this was taken, but it is a picture of the love of my life Kay Pratt and me with her cat. This should have been around 1978-79 timeframe.This is a result of having an ego too big for my skill set. I was riding my Kawasaki ZZR-1200 at Hallett Raceway with full racing leathers during a track day. I was passed by a itty bitty KTM-525 Supermoto bike. I thought “I can keep up with that guy, I have over twice the motor!” NOT. Luckily my gear saved me, although I did get a lacerated spleen and kidney for my efforts.For 10 years I wore a suit and tie to work in downtown OKC. But that was a long time ago. This is about as dressed up as I get anymore.Kay and I were riding our dirt bikes on some jaunt in southern Logan County and ranc across Kay’s brother Rick Blankenship.Kay and I with our first grandaughter Kaitlyn Reber circa 2013.In 2010 I made a couple of trips to California on my BMW R1200GS Adventure. I took this picture in western Oregon on the way to a BMW MOA rally in Bend, OR.My wife Kay loves to snow ski so I join her when possible. We have skied together as a family since about 2004. Not sure where we took this picture, maybe Telluride or Angel Fire.Kay and I love to ride motorcycles together. This photo is from 2007 when we took a trip to Eureka Springs AR with friends and happened to stop at Gaston’s White River Resort for lunch.Kay and I flew my Maule taildragger airplane to the San Juan Islands outside Seattle in 2004. We went on a whale watching tour where we had someone snap this photo.Disaster. That is all I can say. Inflatable kayak in San Juan Islands on a windy day. Does. Not. Work. Ask Kay or I to tell you this funny story. It is funnier if we tell it together.I really have never been into fishing until about 2014, although I grew up with my grandfather loving to fish. My favorite is to pond fish. Sometimes I carry a rod and reel on my bike and cast a line in a nearby pond. Had great luck on a topwater lure this day in southern Oklahoma.This was Kay’s first Jeep which I bought for her on our 25th wedding anniversary. She loved that Jeep and we drove it everywhere and will probably alway have a Jeep in our life.When my son Adam Pratt was 14 years old he and I took a dual sport motorcycle trip to the BMW MOA rally in Red River, NM. He could barely touch the ground on this DRZ-400 and fell over dozens of times during our week long trip. We had an awesome time and now the DRZ is mine. Photo on film circa 2002.After our motorcycles were stolen we couldn’t afford more powered bikes for the family, so we got bicycles instead. We still ride bicycles on a regular basis. Here I am with my nephew Taylor Blankenship (L), my son Adam Pratt (M) and myself at Arcadia Lake in Edmond.I started taking photos in 1996 with a film camera. I did a lot of wildlife photos to go along with my outdoor hunting passion. This was our old Chevy Blazer in the background. This photo was probably around 2001 timeframe.Kay and I loved to Jeep and to mountain bike, so took a Jeep trip with our mountain bikes in 2000 to one of our favorite destinations, Telluride, Colorado.I love to duck hunt but this was not duck hunting season. Instead Kay and I were out in my canoe to photograph ducks early one morning at Arcadia Lake.One one of our many family ski trips to Telluride, Colorado, I decided to wear snowshoes and take photos instead of ski.

Latest Strava Activity

Recently Published

In 2017 I photographed a story about Cody Goodnight, co-owner of Goodnight Farms southwest Oklahoma. The assignment was for Top Producer Magazine, a regular client I work for in the agriculture industry. I photographed Cody and his father, fiancé and employees on their farm in early spring as they were getting ready for the wheat […]

I always love photographing real people doing real things. What could be more fun than photographing volunteer firemen? I got that opportunity recently for Oklahoma Living Magazine. My assignment was to photograph firemen from the Coyle and Woodcrest fire departments in Oklahoma. I had the idea to do a split-shot photo that showed both the […]

During the summer 2017 I took a trip to western Kansas for a long-time client and photographed a couple of stories in the area. For one story I stopped in Clark County and photographed the Ashland Veterinarian Clinic for a story about how the clinic helped local farmers during and after a huge spring prairie […]

I traveled to Tulsa to photograph KOTV’s Leanne Taylor for Oklahoma Living’s “Best of Oklahoma” story for the January 2018 edition of the magazine. It was early December and I had to be there at 7 am to scout for a location. We ended up photographing Leanne after her 9 am television show inside the […]

Had a fun time photographing this story about Shawnee Mills in where else? Shawnee, Oklahoma. I love shooting photos of industrial-type settings and people at work. I worked with one of my favorite writers Hayley Leatherwood on this project. Because of the dust from the flour mill, I had to mount two cameras with lenses […]

I traveled to Garden City, Kansas over the summer to photograph a story about water conservation efforts in the Ogallala Aquifer that covers western Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. This huge aquifer is slowly being used up by the massive irrigation efforts by farmers in these western states, trying to feed the growing populations of the […]

I love doing portrait photography and had the opportunity to photograph Virginia McClain for Oklahoma Living Magazine cover story. Virginia lives in Luther, not far from my home in Edmond, and was a long-time employee – 41 years – at Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives – parent to Oklahoma Living Magazine. Her father Carl Booher […]

“Would you like to photograph a story about the Horny Toad at Tinker Air Force Base?” I got that question after answering the phone call from Megan Rossman, photo editor at Oklahoma Today Magazine. “Heck yea!” Didn’t take me long to answer that question. I had originally told Nathan Gunter, editor at Oklahoma Today, about […]

I just love photographing Oklahoma farmers and ranchers. I was hired to photograph the Horn Canna Farm in southwest Oklahoma last year, for publication in the 2017 Oklahoma Agriculture Magazine produced by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. I met them at daybreak in late September 2016 and set up for photos before sunrise. They had […]

I photographed five college mascots in late June for a story about student mascots for Oklahoma Living Magazine. It was HOT that day – nearly 100 degrees by the time we got everyone onto the UCO football field in Edmond. I got everything set up and tested before the mascots arrived so that I could […]